“real people, not bankers, shall save our world” - Noted LA Artist ALEXEY STEELE unveils his commemorative painting at CSU Dominguez Hills “Learners of Dominguez: Howard, Jenika, Auburn, Chris, Ronald"

Carson, CA based Russian-American painter Alexey Steele will unveil his new painting commissioned by CSU Dominguez Hills to commemorate the 50th anniversary of one of the most diverse campuses in the nation.

The event will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday, August 22 at the Fall Convocation reception in the Loker Student Union ballroom.

“Learners of Dominguez: Howard, Jenika, Auburn, Chris, Ronald ” features the likenesses of five of the university’s students, from its oldest at 80, Howard Christiansen, to its youngest at 17, Auburn Hightower, along with Jenika Miller, Chris Barnette, and Ronald Farol.

Conceived as part of the artist’s ongoing “My Neighbor” series, Steele painted his work in a series of intense live sessions with the students, whose emotional openness and engagement made them, in his words, “his co-authors.” None of the painting was touched up after the sittings, resulting in what Steele says is a “live painting from first stroke to last.” He said that through the realism of such collective participation he wanted this 15-inch by 60-inch painting to capture the soul of the students, and as a result, the university, thus sharing the live experience of the community.

Aimed at presenting a personal as opposed to an objective view, the work puts the emphasis on an individual emotional state of the real world characters-heroes, without distance or any sense of detached coldness.

This experience of “realness”, Steele believes, is necessary today as an antidote in a society plagued beyond containment by fake values of hyper-greed, militant self-indulgence and rampant consumerism.

Art that helps liberate an individual through capturing and emphasizing in a real way their very real internal emotional presence shall help Real People to rebuild their Real World wrecked by bankers and politicians.

“It’s about the character and about real people. It’s about the person and truthfulness of representation. It’s about that internal uniqueness that each person carries and about the expressiveness it conveys,” Steele said. “It gives that personal look at what Dominguez Hills is today that I hope will inspire the viewer many years from now.”

About Alexey Steele : Alexey Steele is a painter of The Russian Realist School known for his figurative work, Laureate of 2009 Gusi Peace Prize of the Philippines and Artemis Award in Greece, founder of Classical Underground, founder of NOVOREALISM web magazine, NOVOREALISM gallery and academy, and a Signature Member of California Art Club. For more information, please visit www.alexeysteele.com, www.novorealism.com.

About CSU Dominguez Hills -- California State University, Dominguez Hills is a model urban university located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County . The university prides itself on a world-class faculty and innovative and relevant academic programs that prepare a multicultural student body to compete in a global economy. For more information, visit www.csudh.edu.